Corn shock and bundle binder



(No Model.)

AfJ. OOLBURN.

CORN SHOCK AND BUNDLE BINDER.

No. 453,038. Patented May 26,1891.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADONIRAM J. COLBURN, OF GREENVILLE, MICHIGAN.

CORN SHOCK AND BUNDLE BINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 453,038, dated May 26,1891. Application filed January 16, 1889. Serial No. 296563. (No model.)

To all whom it 17mg concern:

Be it known that I, ADONIRAM J. COLBURN, of the city of Greenville, inthe county of Montcalm and State of Michigan, have in= Vented new anduseful Improvements in a Combined Corn Shock and Bundle Binder; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making a part of this specification, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon.

This invention has relation to means for compressing corn shocks orstalks into bundles; and it consists in certain peculiarities in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts,substantially as hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out inthe subjoined claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, Figure 1 is aperspective view of that form of my invention used for compressingcorn-shocks, and Fig. 2 is a perspective View of that form employed forcompressing stalks into bundles.

Referring to Fig. 1, the letter A designates a flat main piece, which ispreferably made in the form of an arc of a circle to conform somewhat tothe shape of the shock. Bolted to the under side of this main piece Aand crossing the same at about its center is a bar B, one end I) ofwhich serves as a handle for the device, and the opposite end is pointedand designed to be thrust into the shock to hold the compressor in placewhen in use.

A compressive rope O, which encircles the shock being compressed, issecured at one of its ends to one end of the main piece A, and itsopposite end passes beneath the forwardly-projecting point 61 of a cleatD, which is secured to said main piece, and the end of which projectsover the inner edge of the same, said point being formed by recessing orcutting out the under side of the forward end of the cleat, as shown.

A knife-bladeE for cutting the twine which binds the shock is fastenedto the end of main piece A, adjacent to the cleat D.

F designates a lever, which I will hereinafter term a compression-lever,as when moved in a certain direction it compresses the stalks throughthe compressive rope O.

This compression-lever is pivoted at its forward end to the main pieceA,and its rear end is left free to move back and forth.

A pair of clamping-jaws H H are secured to the upper surface of thislever F, one, as H, rigidly and the other eccentrically pivoted. Thesejaws have teeth 7L formed on their adj acent surfaces, and they aredesigned to grasp and hold in the operation of the devices thecompressive rope O, which obviously passes between them, and a lug J islocated adjacent to the jaws H II, said lug havingits end nearest thepivoted end of the lever formed rounding, as shown, ahd locatedsubstantially in alignment with the inner or toothed surface of the jawII.

The eccentric-jaw II is normally held in its foremost position by meansof a coilspring I, which has its rear abutment against a block I,secured to the upper side of the lever F.

In theoperation of this device the shock to be compressed is placedagainst the inner edge of the main piece A, the compressionlever turnedto the left against the cleat D,

and the pointed end of the bar B thrust into the shock. The compressiverope G is then passed around the shock, beneath the forwardly-projectingpoint cl of the cleat D, to and around the rounded end of the lug J, andthence between the jaws II II, and drawn tight by hand, and the lever Fis turned to the right until the rope has passed the pivot of the leveror the latter rests against the shock. The shock will now besufliciently compressed, and is bound by hand with twine or othermaterial, after which the lever is again turned to the left againstcleat D, and the clamping-jaws caused to release their grasp on thecompressive rope, which is removed or loosened sufficiently to permitthe binder to be removed from the shock. It is important that during thetightening or loosening by hand of the compressive rope, previous to orafter the compression of the shock, said rope shall not draw against theteeth of the clamping-jaws. I have there fore provided the lug J, abovereferred to. On reference to the drawings it will be seen that said lugprojects above the edge of the lever, and that its roundingend issopositioned with respect to the clampin g-jaws that the rope during thetightening or loosening referred to will clear the teeth of theclamping-jaws and draw against said end of the lug, it being, of course,understood that immediately previous to this operation the eccentric-jawis caused by pressure applied to its free end to move away from therigid jaw, and is so held during the operation to leave a sufficientspace between said jaws for the passage of the rope. i

In Fig. 2 my invention is shown modified to adapt it to bind stalks inbundles. In this modified construction the bar Bis dispensed with andthe balance of the device secured to an arm of anX-shaped frame K, whichis held in an upright position by a bar L and carries a pin m, aroundwhich is wound the twine or other binding material, A slot or recess Nfor the passage of the compressive rope C is formed in the top of one ofthe arms of the frame K In this construction the stalks to be bound inbundles are placed between the bars of the frame K and compressed andbound by the mechanism and iii the manner above described.

Having now described my invention, what I believe to be new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a main piece, a compressive rope secured at oneend to one end of said main piece, a cleat secured to the opposite endof said main piece and constructed to permitthe passage through it ofsaid compressive rope, and a knife adjacent to said cleat, of acompressiondever pivotally secured at its forward end to said mainpiece, toothed clamping-jaws on said lever, one of said jaws beingrigid, the other eccentrioally pivoted, and both having their adjacentsurfaces formed with teeth, a coiled spring acting on saideccentrically-pivoted jaw, and a lug secured to said com pression-leveradjacent to said jaws, said lug having a rounded end locatedsubstantially in alignment with the toothed surface of said rigid jaw.

'2. lhe combination, with a main piece, a compressive rope secured atone end to one end of said main piece, a cle'at secured to the other endof said main piece and having at its upper end a forwardly-extendingpoint projecting over the inner edge of said main piece, and a knifeadjacent to said cleat, of

a compressionlever pivotally secured to said main piece and carryingtoothed clampingjaws, and a lug secured to and projecting above the edgeof said lever, said lug having a rounded end so located with respect tosaid clamping-jaws that the rope while being tightened by hand will drawagainst it instead of against said clamping-jaws.

S. The combination, with the'frame K, having. an opening in the topofone of its members, and the supporting-bar L, of the comj pressiondevice secured to and supported by said frame and comprising the bar A,cleat D,secured to one end thereof, compressive rope secured at oneofits ends to the other end of said bar, lever F, pivotally secured at itsforward end to said bar, toothed clamping-jaws 011 said lever, and lugJ, also secured to said lever and having one end substantially inalignment with the toothed surface of one of said jaws, allsubstantially as described, and for the purposes specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

ADONIRAM J. COLBURN.

Witnesses:

JoHN Lnwls, II. N. ANDERSON.

